I am surprised that it is pigeons which attack your gooseberry. Mine never have. Blackbirds on the other hand are always trying to steal the fruit before I get to it.
When blackbirds get interested, the gooseberries are sweetening up and it is time to harvest or very nearly so. But until I am ready, I put sticks with old CDs on strings around the gooseberry bush. The reflections and the movement in any breeze frighten them off. This also works with pigeons, who are interested in my peas rather than gooseberries. Rattly and shiny things put them off too.
Netting fruit bushes is the usual recommended way and it certainly does not harm them. In any case, the netting is only on for a short amount of time. The downside is that birds can get caught up in netting. Also fixing the netting is a prickly job, but so is harvesting.
I would say netting is the conventional way to go, but shiny and rattling deterrents work well for me too.